Come Back
by Moment For Life
Summary: She was married. The gold band which sat on her finger was now beneath the huge diamond which was her engagement ring. As she watched it, she tried to feel something, anything. What would life be without Jack Dawson? Short story. Complete.


**Come Back**

 **30th April 1912**

She was married. The gold band which sat on her finger was now beneath the huge diamond which was her engagement ring. As she watched it, she tried to feel something, anything. Her eyes were heavy, her body ached and she sagged against the sink in the bathroom of the wedding gala at the Grand Hotel.

As soon as she had been pronounced as Mrs Hockley she had felt as though she became someone else. A victim of some sort. Her make up was perfect, her hair coiffure in a light bun and the veil which had covered her eyes. She had shed the veil, knowing most people would believe in her innocence as a bride although her Mother and Cal knew different. Yes, she had been with another man. One man she had fallen deeply in love with but a man who had died with the Titanic.

Her heavy beaded dress weighed down her body making her feel nothing but the pure agony of every feeling. Her hand shook and she found she despised what she saw in the mirror.

All of Philadelphia society had witnessed her marriage. Her Mother had cried a tear of joy and then her grandparents whose face she had never once seen twist into anything other than the deep set frowns on their thin faces. She felt her eyes dampen. Would she wind up that way? Her Mothers parents were obviously never in love and as for her fathers parents, well they spent most of their time leading separate lives but you could guarantee they would come together for parties and cotillions as though they would not live another day. Her own parents were cut from different cloth and together they had managed to create her. She could never imagine her own mother carrying a child or being capable of love or anything other than her own selfishness and then there was Cal, her husband. She choked on the last word.

He had come into her life when she was hardly an adult, just introduced to society and men had swarmed her like flies but he had stuck like glue but that was beyond her control. Once her father had died her Mother had driven her to choose a suitable husband and he was the one Rose had found to be the most eager. He had wooed her for months and then asked for her hand during Christmastime and now four months later she was his bride.

It was less than a month before she had met Jack Dawson. He was penniless and at first she had probably been disgusted by his presence but she couldn't deny the attraction which she felt to him. She had given herself to him mind, body and soul and those firsts would remain with him forever. She had kissed him, clung to him and he had taken her virginity so lovingly that she would cherish those moments in her mind. Cal had mercifully begged for her to join him in bed, to give her naked body to his like that of a man and woman purely in love and yet she had refused for so long. She was now his wife and allowing that kind of thing to happen was inevitable now she was his.

She blinked back the tears. In the mirror she could see the huge bloody hole in her heart which bled more than ever at this moment in time. She clutched her stomach feeling the grief overcome her body. She wanted Jack more than anything but he was never coming back. She hadn't allowed herself to think of him since her arrival back in Philadelphia and she had tried her hardest to return to her old life and yet she couldn't for she was a changed woman. He had opened her eyes to such experiences she didn't know existed, she had travelled the world and learnt nothing and yet this man had taught her everything in such a short time.

She took a deep breath and it hurt her lungs. She stood up straight and cleared the tears from her eyes. She was a married woman now. She glanced at the window through the mirror. An idea came to her and in a few seconds she considered climbing out of it and escaping. She laughed at herself. Who would she go to? She was a crazy woman in a wedding gown running the streets of Philadelphia. She would be arrested on the grounds of insanity. No, she would face the music and her family. She would start the rest of her life.

A knock on the door startled her.

''Yes. I will be just one moment.''

She wiped her face with her hands the best she could. The knock sounded again, this time more incessant.

''I said I am coming!'' She shouted. She fixed her hair and smoothed out her dress.

She noticed her trembling hand which reached for the doorknob as she slid it to unlock it. She slowly opened the door. She was about to apologize profusely for her absence when she opened her mouth to speak and nothing came out…

She placed her shaky hands over her face and took him in. He was there stood before her, she felt tears in her eyes. She fell backwards against the door, not realising it was open and a pair of arms grabbed her, stopping her fall, just the way they always had done.

''No.'' She cried. ''It's not true.'' She pathetically attempted to push him away, she was hallucinating but he loosened his grip on her before removing his hat. It was him. Jack Dawson.

Rose was speechless.

''I thought you were dead.' She cried to him and he put his arms around her holding onto her for dear life. He hadn't been near her since he had lost her on Titanic. He could feel himself shaking and she clung to him scared that he would disappear.

''I had died Rose, but I am here. I am as alive as you are.''

Rose pulled away from Jack and touched his face, as if checking that he was here. ''I thought you were dead.'' she repeated, throwing herself at his chest and he kissed her hair gently. She didn't even care, welcoming his warmth more than a fire.

''Don't worry, nobody saw me.'' He soothed as if he had read her mind. She shook her head, touching his face. He was the same person, had the same face. She clung to him for dear life. She believed him dead, she had mourned him .With no words, her arms were around his neck and he ran his fingers through her hair and closed his eyes taking in her scent, she tightened her grip on him just to make sure he was actually real.

''Oh my God…'' She couldn't quite think of what to say. Jack pulled away, still holding her hands in his and not taking his eyes away from her face. Rose opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. She could only smile and try anything to calm her racing heart. ''I am married Jack.''

''I know.'' He stated simply.

''How do you know?''

''I just know, Rose.''

She didn't question him.

''What happened to you, Jack?'' Her smiled faded. ''Where have you been? I tried to look for you!''

He touched her face. ''Here, Rose. Right here, with you.''

She felt her stomach sink. Another tear escaped her eyes.

He touched her hand; he was so warm and welcoming just like she remembered. Their lips met and just once she felt her world disappear. All of the aches and pain of the last few weeks without him and then she remembered something. ''No Jack, I am married.'' She pushed him away. ''I am Cal's wife.''

She pushed Jack away with some force and covered her face with her hands. Jack touched her shoulder and she turned to find herself in his arms. 'Don't worry about it Rose.''

She pulled away from him again. ''No Jack. I'm a married woman and our love is in the past.'' She told him and he kissed her forehead gently.

''But I don't want you to ever leave my life again.'' She whispered.

Their faces were a mere inch apart, her heart beat rapidly just as it had the night of their first kiss. Their eyes interlocked, he moved closer to her. The inch which was between them was now closed and she returned his kiss. It was soft and lovely, something she hadn't experienced since their last kiss. It was oh so familiar and yet so far away. She sobbed as she kissed him, it was very bittersweet.

She felt desired how a woman should. He ran his fingers up and down her bare arms causing goose bumps to surface. She shivered as she felt his tongue enter her mouth, something which she usually found revolting but with him it felt natural. He pulled away again. She felt like she was his soul mate, and that a strong force pulled him towards her. His palms were sticky and he felt somewhat nervous. For moments, they simply gazed into each other's eyes, feeling connected. Ever so slowly, Jack leaned towards Rose and inched towards her face his eyes not leaving hers until his mouth captured hers ever so slightly. Rose's eyes flickered closed, and she continued their kiss. Their bodies moved closer together and her hands ran down his back, as he touched her face gently and then her hair. It was like heaven, the tension which was present between them was finally released. The kiss felt different to the first time they had kissed, it was more passionate as if it had been something they had been waiting for all of this time.

She pushed him away again. ''Why now? Just a day earlier and I wasn't a married woman. I would have…'' She couldn't even bare to think what could have happened.

''I don't care.'' He clasped her hand in his. ''I don't care if you're married or not. I love you Rose.''

She felt her heart rip again. ''Do not say those words.'' She remembered when she had told him she loved him and how he had made her promise something, a promise she was too heartbroken to think about.

''Come back, Rose.''

She couldn't breath. ''What?''

''Come back to me. Leave him.''

''But I am married to him.''

''Fuck that!'' He shook her shoulders. ''I love you and even if I never get to marry you I refuse to let you go again.''

She fell against him. This was such a mess. ''He will find me.''

''Let him, he will never be your husband. If you don't love him then don't stay. Come with me.''

She couldn't focus on anything except the raw pain and the sincerity of his words. His eyes were magnificently blue and lined with unshed tears.

''Where will we go?''

He shrugged. ''Away from here. We will have the life we talked about. Rose, you said you were getting off that ship with me.''

Those were the words he had clung to all the days since he had last seen her. He had seen her picture in the papers with Cal and knew that she had survived. He had arrived in town that morning and by the time he got there it was too late, she had married him. She was married to Cal.

''I know and I meant them.'' She sobbed again. She couldn't think of anything else in that moment.

''Then please come back to me.'' A single tear slid down his face. He was a broken man. It was then she realised that if death couldn't part them then neither could her marriage.

She was silent. ''All right.''

''All right?''

''Yes, take me away from here Jack.''

He wrapped his arms around her neck and felt the desperation to kiss her once more. He removed his backpack and quickly pulled out some clothes. A pair of trousers and a shirt. He also pulled out a pair of shoes, black, flat and plain.

''Put these on.'' He told her.

It was twenty minutes before Cal Hockley and his father knocked at the bathroom door. After three knocks they burst inside. Rose had been missing for forty minutes at their own wedding reception, to say he was embarrassed was understated.

Inside the bathroom he found her wedding dress. It was ripped at the seams as though she had burst out of it. Her veil lay beside it and on the sink unit were two rings; her wedding and engagement bands.

He was too shocked for words. She was gone.

As for Jack Dawson, he took his Rose on an adventure and even though he wasn't allowed to marry her until 1929 when word had it Caledon Hockley had taken his own life, it didn't stop them living their lives to the fullest.


End file.
